St Ethelburga-the-Virgin within Bishopsgate is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, located on

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate's name is traditionally attributed to Earconwald, who was Bishop of London in the 7th century. It was first built in Roman times and marked the beginning o ...

near

Liverpool Street station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a major central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It i ...

. One of the few surviving medieval City churches in London, the foundation date of the church is unknown, but it was first recorded in 1250 as the church of St Adelburga the Virgin. The church was rebuilt around 1411 and some of this material remains, notably in the south arcade. The church was severely damaged by an IRA bomb in 1993. Following rebuilding and restoration it re-opened as a Centre for Reconciliation and Peace.

History

This structure is a rare survivor of the medieval City churches that were mostly destroyed during the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

in 1666. It is dedicated to St Ethelburga, a 7th-century

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

Barking Abbey The Abbey of St Mary and St Ethelburga, founded in the 7th-century and commonly known as Barking Abbey, is a former Roman Catholic, royal monastery located in Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It has been described as havi ...

; she was the sister of Saint Erkenwald, a

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

. Its foundation date is unknown, but it was first recorded in 1250 as the church of ''St Adelburga-the-Virgin''. The dedication to "-the-Virgin" was dropped in

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

times but was later restored. The church was rebuilt in the 15th century – possibly around 1411 – and a small square bell turret was added in 1775. A weathervane was added in 1671. In order to raise revenue for the church, whose parish covered just three acres (1.2 ha), a wooden porch was built over its exterior in the 16th century to house two shops. It underwent major changes in 1932, when Bishopsgate was controversially widened. The shops were demolished and the porch dismantled, revealing the façade of the church for the first time in centuries. It suffered modest bomb damage during

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was restored in 1953. In 1993, the church was half destroyed when a massive IRA bomb exploded 7 metres from the church, devastating Bishopsgate and causing an estimated £350 million worth of damage. An evangelical faction of the

proposed to demolish St Ethelburga's in the aftermath but, following a sustained public outcry, it was rebuilt to its original plan, though much changed inside.

Description

The church's tiny interior comprises a nave and aisle divided by an arcade. Most of the original fittings were destroyed by the 1993 bombing although they were not as old as the church. Dating from the early 20th century, they were the work of

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect, one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishm ...

. One of the more notable surviving elements is the curious 19th-century font, which is inscribed with one of the longest known

palindrome A palindrome (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpæl.ɪn.droʊm/) is a word, palindromic number, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date "Twosday, 02/02/2020" and th ...

s, written in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: ΝΙΨΟΝ ΑΝΟΜΗΜΑΤΑ ΜΗ ΜΟΝΑΝ ΟΨΙΝ, which translates as "Cleanse

our Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" Places * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France Other uses * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a governm ...

transgressions, not only

face". The church was designated a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

on 4 January 1950, and its reconstruction retains the listing.

Centre for Reconciliation and Peace

St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace is a non-profit charity which aims to build relationships across divisions of conflict, culture and religion. Its work includes: a multi-faith conflict resilience programme (faith leaders working together to become more intelligent in their responses to conflict); community reconciliation (building a coalition for peace within the North and South Sudanese

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

in London); the Narrative Practitioners Forum (promoting the use of narrative and personal story for building empathy between people with different backgrounds); Re-awakening the Sacred (a secular and spiritual multi-disciplinary enquiry into bringing a deeper sense of meaning into the earth, environment, leadership, economics and business etc.); an MA in reconciliation at Winchester University; and several strands of cultural exchange work mentoring young adults into social action leadership roles. It also runs a certificated three-day course in conflict coaching aimed at anyone dealing with workplace or personal conflict. The centre also works with a social enterprise, Seasoned Events, for building/venue hire purposes. Every year the Centre organises a 10km walk, 'The Ethelburga Walk', which links two historic sites associated with the St Ethelburga of

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

and St Ethelburga's Centre. St Ethelburga's is a partner in the community of the

Cross of Nails A Coventry Cross of Nails (in German, ''Nagelkreuz von Coventry'') is a Christian cross made from iron nails, employed as a symbol of peace and reconciliation. The original version was made from three large medieval nails salvaged from the Cov ...

Notable people associated with the church

Blessed John Larke John Larke (fl. c. 1500 – died 7 March 1544) was an English Catholic priest and martyr, who was executed during the reign of Henry VIII. Larke was a notable personal friend of Thomas More, Lord High Chancellor of England. Larke was beatified ...

, Rector (1504–1544) who was martyred for denying the royal supremacy in matters spiritual. *

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

, explorer, took communion with his crew before setting out in search of the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

, 1607. *

Charles Viner Charles William Viner A.M., Ph.D., (1812Birch, Brian. ''Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers''. 9th edition. Standish, Wigan: 2008, p.1468. – 14 March 1906) was a British philatelist who was a founding member of the ''Philatelic Society, ...

(1678-1756) married in the church in 1699. * John Medows Rodwell, Rector (1843–1900) who made the first reliable rendering of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

into English (1861). * William Geikie-Cobb, Rector (1900–1941) who achieved notoriety by marrying many divorced persons in the church. *Singers

Webster Booth Webster Booth (21 January 1902 – 21 June 1984) was an English tenor, best remembered as the duettist partner of Anne Ziegler. He was also one of the finest tenors of his generation and was a distinguished oratorio soloist. He was a choriste ...

and

Anne Ziegler Anne Ziegler (born Irené Frances Eastwood; 22 June 1910 – 13 October 2003) was an English singer, known for her light operatic duets with her husband Webster Booth. The pair were known as the "Sweethearts in Song" and were among the most famo ...

(born Irené Frances Eastwood) had their marriage blessed by W. F. Geikie-Cobb in a special ceremony for divorced persons on 5 November 1938.

References

External links